South Kent News

There was an increase in the number of East Grand Rapids Public Schools students considered ready for math classes in college in the 2022-23 school year, according to the MI School Data. Based on their performance on the math portion of the SAT, 69.7% of the students were set for college during the school year.

In contrast, college-level math readiness in East Grand Rapids Public Schools the year before was 64.6%.

East Grand Rapids Public Schools ranked first in college readiness for math this year, compared to other districts in Kent County. In the previous year, it was ranked second.

Overall, students in Michigan are still performing below pre-pandemic levels. According to the test results, their scores are on average 4.5% lower than the pre-pandemic levels.

A recent study in the state suggested this could be caused by remote schooling. Students who learned remotely experienced more learning loss compared to those who attended in-person classes during the pandemic.

"This is hurting kids in ways we can't even imagine, and not just academically," Senator Thomas Albert said during his time as the House Appropriations Chairman. "The disruption of sports and other extracurricular activities also takes a major toll. It's going to take years for some of these students to recover academically."

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was criticized for trying to address these academic failures by using more tutors in the public school system.

"Relying only on the system that caused academic and mental health setbacks is not looking out for the best interest of children," Jamie A. Hope wrote in the Michigan Capitol Confidential.

Due to the suspension of state assessments, SAT data for the 2019-20 academic year are not available.

Rank	District	Math average score overall
1	East Grand Rapids Public Schools	568.5
2	Forest Hills Public Schools	566.3
3	Byron Center Public Schools	562.2
4	West Michigan Aviation Academy	542
5	Rockford Public Schools	523.7
6	Lowell Area Schools	517.3
7	Grandville Public Schools	505.5
8	Cedar Springs Public Schools	502.8
9	Caledonia Community Schools	495.7
10	West Michigan Academy of Environmental Science	492.7
11	Northview Public Schools	476.5
12	Comstock Park Public Schools	472.1
13	Kenowa Hills Public Schools	470
14	Kentwood Public Schools	467
15	Sparta Area Schools	463.4
16	Kent City Community Schools	459
17	Grand River Preparatory High School	457.9
18	Wellspring Preparatory High School	457.4
19	Tri County Area Schools	453.7
20	Creative Technologies Academy	444.7
21	Grand Rapids Public Schools	440.9
22	PrepNet Virtual Academy	424.6
23	Wyoming Public Schools	422.3
24	Godwin Heights Public Schools	403
25	Kelloggsville Public Schools	402.6
26	Godfrey-Lee Public Schools	400.3